Prepping for Radiation

Today the reality of radiation started to take shape in my head. I guess till now, my only focus had been getting through chemotherapy... I figured the radiation step was trivial. They'd shoot the beam at me and slowly kill off the cancer cells over the course of the 6 weeks, in 5-minute daily increments. I went to the appt today to get CT scans done and my tattoos (X marks the spot) put in, and I was a bit taken aback by how the radiation techs and the doctor seemed to struggle somehow in getting me positioned correctly in the machine. I had to lay on my back, with my left arm above my head, my shoulders aligned straight, and my back supported at about a 15-degree angle. They wondered if they'd be able to get the whole breast in from the position towards my left. They had to go back and forth about it for a while before they finally slid me into the CT machine (a donut-shaped machine) and took the scans.

After it was over, a nurse told us (Chinya and I) about how a typical day would go, what lotion and powder I'd use afterwards, to avoid Vit E and C supplements, how my fatigue would continue, that I would feel sharp but infrequent twitching (I think that was the word), and basically I should be careful with the skin in that area for the duration. I'd should expect to be in and out within twenty minutes or so each day. My next appt was set for next Thursday, when we'd do a trial run, before starting on June 1 (our 14th anniversary actually!).

I thought it was all set until I got a call from Dr. Pierce (the radiation oncologist) later in the afternoon. They'd been over my scans and basically the tumor had been directly over my heart and the plan they had would not work. They were afraid they could not prevent the beam from damaging the heart, and they needed to use IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) instead. An advanced mode of high-precision radiotherapy that utilizes computer-controlled linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation doses to a malignant tumor or specific areas within the tumor. (Internet) That meant they had to rework the plan for me, and would contact me soon to re-schedule. I was a bit shaken up by this initially but remembered that this why we chose to use Dr. Pierce and her Fairfax practice in the first place (meaning I drive at least 40 minutes each way, instead of just 5 minutes to get to the Loudoun practice). When we first met, she had pointed out before that the proximity to the heart was a concern, and it would require an experienced radiation oncologist. God is still in control.

I thank God for this New Day!